All this does raise the question of rights..... Specifically, the rights of the person wearing the niqab versus the rights of those occupying the space in the vicinity of the wearer. Essentially here is the question.....Do I have a right to see your face if you are conducting yourself in my general space in a public arena setting? Barbara Kay is a columnist with the National Post who wrote what I thought was a thought provoking piece about this a few years ago when the issue was being debated in Canada. For the record, the European Court of Human Rights has established that the answer to that question is yes. As Barbara Kay says in the closing of her article, “Enshrining in law the social right to see each other as a norm is not intolerance. It is protection of the principle of social reciprocity on which a healthy culture depends.” http://www.barbarakay.ca/articles/view/1054
Thanks for the article. Being able to see each other’s face makes good social sense. A lot of nonverbal communication takes place via facial expression. That’s why emails can cause problems because you can’t see if the person is smiling or serious. Hence, the use of emojis.
Although a separate issue, I would also like to see protestors like Antifa members be prohibited from masking their faces. I think one should be able to see who is screaming at you or breaking a store window.